Tie Down the Future
by Rinnesuke
Summary: 'All he think of were those Bambi-like eyes, pretty but hard, like uncut emerald jewels. They held hidden depth in their irises, but Rin could see just how hard that Oz had tried to hide it. They were eyes exactly like his.' Slash: OzRin.
1. Tie Down the Future

**Title: **Tie Down the Future.

**Summary: **'All he think of were those Bambi-like eyes, pretty but hard, like uncut emerald jewels. They held hidden depth in their irises, but Rin could see just how hard that Oz had tried to hide it. They were eyes exactly like his.'

**Rating: **K+

**Warnings: **Angst, psychological, maybe gore in later chapters. SLASH.

**Pairings: **Oz/Rin

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Ao no Exorcist or Pandora Hearts, but I do own my ideas.

**-insertlinebreakhere-**

The frigid night air was tranquil, aside from the occasional song offered by crickets. Sturdy, short grass was crushed under worn out sneakers, releasing a faint scent of chlorophyll. A calloused hand twirled a bent flower stem and caressed the baby pink petals.

Okumura Rin dropped to his knees in front of his 'father's' grave. He didn't care for the sticky green stains that were sure to appear on his jeans later on, or the mussed up locks that insistently fell in to his eyes. The lone boy hesitantly mouthed a few words, before setting down the fragile flower gently.

He puffed a white cloud of breath, before straightening up once again. His navy blue hoodie fluttered in the vague breeze. Rin's feathery raven hair blew away from his well-sculpted face, revealing deep, ocean-blue eyes. They were guilty, dark eyes that knew past their age. Those were the curious eyes that drew _him_ in.

"Excuse me, onii-san?"

Rin jumped, looking wildly around for the source of the voice. It wasn't hard to find, what with the object of interest having luminous blond hair and emerald-green twin suns for eyes. The anonymous boy grinned cheekily at him, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. He wore a muddy-brown vest, trimmed in gold, over a plain, white button-up. His crimson tie clashed pleasantly with his checked, forest-green bermudas. His black knee-highs and strappy, chocolate-brown boots were made of expensive material, flaunting his status.

Rin frowned. Why was there someone this far out, and in a cemetery out of all places?

"C-Can I help you?" he inquired, puzzled.

The boy seemed to heave a sigh of relief, before turning cheerful eyes to him once again.

He tapped a suddenly-there rose against his thigh as he spoke, "Ah, you see, I'm looking for someone. About two heads taller than me, with seaweed hair and gloomy eyes, kinda like this—"

He gestured with his hands, pinching his eyebrows together and fooling around with his hair. Rin raised an eyebrow in confusion. Who on Earth was that?

"Oz!"

A low, concerned voice called from behind the pair. The blond boy, now identified as 'Oz', waved excitedly at the dark figure. A lanky male came up to them, wearing an elaborate dress coat that reached his knees and had stiff lapels. He also wore a frilly white shirt and tailored black pants. He had wavy black hair and slanted eyes, that were filled with worry.

"Ah, Gil. Seriously, where did you go?" Oz pouted.

Gil forced a nice and simple fedora on to the boy's head with a sigh.

"Weren't you the one who wandered off?"

He then turned to Rin, "I'm sorry for the trouble my master may have caused you."

"E-Eh? No…" Rin stuttered nervously.

"I haven't introduced myself, haven't I?" Oz held out a hand in a friendly manner, "Oz. Oz Vessalius."

Rin shook the hand hesitantly, "Rin. Okumura Rin."

"Gilbert Nightray," Gil nodded. "Thanks for your help, once again."

Then the strange pair left, chattering noisily. Rin was left in the chilly cemetery, completely dazed. _Weird_, he thought.

As the fifteen-year-old walked back home that night, all he think of were those Bambi-like eyes, pretty but hard, like uncut emerald jewels. They held hidden depth in their irises, but Rin could see just how hard that Oz had tried to hide it. However, for a person like him, he could tell. Those were eyes that didn't belong on a young person like him.

They were eyes exactly like his.

**-insertlinebreakhere-**

**Author's Note:**

I may or may not continue this. Flames shall be ignored.

R&R?

-Rin-


	2. Heartbeat

**[Heartbeat]**

The second time that the boy named Okumura Rin saw the emerald-eyed boy it was at True Cross Academy. There had been no sign, nothing strange that warned him the meeting was going to happen. And that somehow bothered him because when new things popped up, it usually meant that there was some hidden motive behind it. Well, or maybe Rin was just grabbing around for an excuse to blame his failed reaction on for he had not been prepared. Nope, not at all.

Even after a few weeks had gone by and not once had Rin met the boy named Oz Vessalius again, the memory of those emerald eyes still remained, nagging at him from the back of his mind where he had tucked it. They were there when he closed his eyes, staring out from behind his eyelids with a haunted glow. They were there when he was sitting bored in class, jumping out as a suitable simile for anything green his eyes landed on. It was one part plain annoying and three parts comforting.

From the moment Rin had found out his true family lineage, he had been different. The navy-haired boy's whole perception had changed from that moment. He had felt older, shoved to the side and ostracized. He had felt like his whole world had crashed down on him without warning, which it had done, and he was not allowed to build it back up because it no longer belonged to him.

Rin had been in shock, but then he thought, _I should just be me. _He had realised that, yes, everything had changed for him. He had decided that, no, even if his body turned out to be a completely different entity than he had always thought it had, his personality hadn't changed. So Rin tried to act like himself.

But Rin had failed. Many times over and many times he tried again and again, there had always been a _change_, you see. Every minor thing, even normal stuff like talking to his little brother, his mind would immediately whisper to him a line of sarcasm, _they're not yours anymore, not your family, not the same. _They were Exorcists, most of them human and nothing like him. Right, even if they were demons, they wouldn't have to deal with being _Satan's freaking son. _

Rin tried to ignore. He tried to pretend that he was still the exact same person. He tried to pretend that it didn't matter to him and he was still as laidback, carefree as before. He tried so damn _hard_ that he felt like he was screaming his voice raw just four words: _I am still me! _Rin thinks that everyone who's accepted that he was Okumura Rin and the rest that entailed didn't matter; thinks that it didn't matter to him. It mattered, and he couldn't tell anyone.

The first time that Okumura Rin had seen those emerald eyes, a wave of relief so strong had hit him until he had almost toppled. The darkness swirling in those strangely clear eyes told Rin that he wasn't alone anymore. He wasn't the only one in this world who felt like everybody didn't treat him like him. No, this boy who looked his age had undergone the same treatment and felt the same emotions he did. He wasn't alone anymore.

So imagine how Rin couldn't find the words to speak when he stared in to those deep emerald eyes for the second time, right outside his classroom. His soft, blond hair was still as mussed up as he remembered it, albeit the colour a bit duller since there was the light of the corridor now. It framed his childish face, lit up by that silly, cheerful grin. He was wearing the same aristocratic outfit as before, but this time a sleek black cloak billowed behind his petite frame. Of course, then there were those eyes. Exactly the way he remembered them, but about ten times more pretty. For a while Rin couldn't do anything else but study those eyes.

"Aha! I remember you!"

That light, melodic voice chimed. Those eyes shifted so quickly that Rin didn't have time to react and in a blink, he was frozen to the ground, pinned by that gaze. The happy-go-lucky boy skipped over to Rin, blissfully unaware of all the thoughts running through the poor boy's brain. All the _yes, no, what if's _wrecking havoc like nobody's business.

Oz stopped right in front of Rin, cocking his head to a side with the juvenile innocence present in all his movements. His grin spread, clear and pretty like polished glass.

He addressed the statue boy, "Rin, was it? The one at the cemetery?"

"R-right…" Rin flushed, managing to unfreeze him just enough to mumble the word.

But then while Rin was mesmerized by that bright but still fake smile, he realised. For the first time in his life, he felt almost… _normal_. He knew that if he spoke to this boy, he wouldn't treat him differently. He knew that Oz would be able to understand how he felt, and that maybe Oz had gone through worse. He suddenly felt that maybe being such a complicated person was _alright_, even, and then immediately felt like laughing. But all these trivial stuff didn't matter.

For the first time in his life, Okumura Rin was truly and unmistakably happy.

**-insertlinebreakhere-**

**Author's Note:**

Seems like my dear reviewers would like me to continue :) Like mentioned in my profile (if any of you read it recently), I don't really have strong inspiration for this fanfiction but I'll just continue it, because I'll feel unsatisfied if I don't. I'm so oxymoronic.

This shall be full of drabbles and stuff, without any actual plotline, because I'm too lazy to think of one. Hope you guys don't mind. If you guys have any requests at all, you can also mention it to me in a review or message and I'll try my best to fill it.

Also, please excuse any strange inconsistencies in the fanfiction, as I don't watch Ao no Exorcist. The only thing I have pinned (I hope) is Rin's character!

Thank you to all three reviewers, all those that favourited and all those that put me under your alerts as well! I didn't expect anything out of this fanfiction at all, honestly.

R&R?

[Rin]


	3. Serendipity

A boy lay kneeling in front of a simple marble tombstone. The choppy locks of that bent head shone brightly like an uncut sapphire gem. In stark contrast, the locks fluttered lightly in the cold breeze, seeming to be as soft as a feather. He seemed to be the only other person in the cemetery at this unfavourable timing. Curiously, Oz decided to take a few steps closer. He had been expecting an abandoned graveyard, a quiet place that he could seek solace in for a few moments. That had been the reason why Oz had chosen to venture here ahead of Gilbert and Alice. He had been searching for tranquility.

Suddenly, a streak of silver caught his eye. It had been the salty pearl of a tear sliding its way down the cheek of that lonely boy. Oz jolted. _The boy was crying?_ Quickly, Oz caught himself. _This is a cemetery, a place where people visit their lost loved ones. Crying is a commonality._ However, the significance of tears struck Oz deeper than he thought it would. Oz, whose memories spoke of all the lonely nights he had cried himself to sleep and rocked himself to comfort, empathised too deeply with crying. Oz watched silently as the boy mouthed a prayer of respect and placed a single white flower down on the equally white stone.

Seeing no harm in approaching him, Oz took a measured walk forward. The boy stood up, and his hair fell away from his eyes to reveal deep blue eyes that spoke of an endless ocean. With a sharp intake of breath, Oz called out, "Excuse me, onii-san?"

The blue-haired, blue-eyed youth jumped while whipping around to capture Oz in his sight. Perhaps unconsciously, he shifted his right leg slightly behind and stabalised his posture. _Battle instincts_, Oz's mind whispered. The boy's eyebrows furrowed adorably, and his expressions rearranged itself in to a baffled one. "C-Can I help you?" he asked.

Oz heaved a quiet sigh of relief. The boy did not reject him outright. "Ah, you see, I'm looking for someone!" He pulled a rose free from his pocket, and proceeded to describe Gil vibrantly. _Of course, I do not need to look for Gil. He will find me sooner or later._ The side of his mouth pulled up in a sly smile that he tugged wider in to a full blown, sunny grin.

"Oz!"

Damn it. Gilbert wasn't supposed to come so quickly. Maybe he jinxed it with his little lie. With a disappointed glance at the boy, Oz turned to meet Gilbert. "Ah, Gil. Seriously, where did you go?" Oz murmured grudgingly. "Weren't you the one who wandered off?" Gil retorted while thrusting his battered old fedora on to Oz's head. Oz shot him a reproachful look, asking him not to pursue the matter. Gilbert raised an eyebrow at this. Luckily, he understood that this was neither the time nor the place to question Oz, and chose instead to apologise to the surprised boy. "I'm sorry for the trouble my master may have caused you."

The boy blinked nervously, a little awkward around these queer strangers. "E-Eh? No..."

Oz jumped in hurriedly. He still hadn't gotten the boy's name. "I haven't introduced myself, haven't I? Oz. Oz Vessalius." He offered a hand as a sign of open friendship. A fuzzy flutter made itself known in the crevices of his stomach, a physical manifestation of his hope that the boy would take his hand with a smile. "Rin. Okumura Rin." He shook Oz's hand firmly as his expression softened in to a cheerful grin.

"Gilbert Nightray," Gil nodded in recognition. "Thanks for your help, once again."

Oz roved his emerald eyes over Rin's lean but strong frame, hoping to memorise every nook and cranny of his body. He wanted to be able to recognise the boy at first sight if he saw him again. There was something mesmerising about Rin. Maybe it was how broken Rin had seemed as he hunched over that marble gravestone, or how sad he looked as he cried that tear that Oz was sure he had been holding back for a long while, or simply how adorably hopeful his face and responses had been when he talked to Oz. Yeah, it was probably the last one. Flashing the last bright grin, Oz slung his arm in to the loop of Gilbert and tugged him away. He had a feeling he would be seeing Rin again sometime in the future.

"What happened there?" Gil questioned suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Oz chuckled, "Just someone I'm interested in."

His childhood friend was taken aback, but held back any further questions. It would seem to be in his best interest if he didn't question his master's motives because he wasn't very sure it was something he wanted to be involved in. "If you say so, Oz."

* * *

><p>"Rin, was it? The one at the cemetery?"<p>

Oz smiled pleasantly. Indeed, what a lovely surprise. "R-Right." Rin mumbled, averting his eyes immediately. He had that frantic, caught-in-the-headlights look. It was almost guilty; he had been caught doing something wrong. The question was _what_? Rin's quick dart of those ocean-blue eyes back at Oz and then away again was enough to give Oz the answer he wanted. Rin had been thinking about him. Oz's smile twitched wider.

Rin inhaled deeply before speaking curiously, "Oz Vessalius, yeah? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm here with Pandora," Oz replied easily. He took the chance to hop on to a nearby parapet wall. With an air of comfort, he swung his legs gently. "Pandora?" Rin inquired. Oz focused carefully on to the object of his long-term interest, "You haven't heard of Pandora?" "Nah. I don't read the news or anything." Rin replied. Oz noted that as an absent-minded action, he played with the frayed hems of his navy zip-up jacket. "Mm. It's a government organisation in public. However, it kind of has a hidden special job as well."

"What special job?"

Oz laughed. "I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you. However, I'll take in to consideration that this _is_ an exorcist academy. Doesn't really fall in to normal spectrums." Oz gestured ambiguously with one hand, while he utilised the other to swing his body over the wall so that he faced the world outside of the academy. Miles of untainted foliage and pure nature greeted him. Oz, who had become accustomed to a darker mood and heavier responsibilities, felt enlightened when he faced clean scenery. It was a world untouched by destruction or pain. It was the world they were all fighting to protect. "We contain beings known as Chains, which comes from the Abyss. We also capture their Illegal Contractors, who are the ones who enabled these Chains to enter our world." Oz summarised.

"You work for Pandora?" Rin asked. It was an understandable question. Oz and Rin looked around the same age. Maybe Oz looked a little younger, but it was not such a substantial difference that people would assume Oz was a working adult. "I guess you could call it that. I'm actually twenty-five years of age, you know!" Oz threw out the information bomb light-heartedly.

"T-T-Twenty-five?!" Rin practically flew off the seat. His eyes bugged open and his jaw dropped like a rock. His arms flailed helplessly and his legs seemed a bit uncoordinated. A glance at Rin's ridiculous position had Oz cracking up immediately. "Hahahaha!" Oz's laughter was like bells resounding in the empty corridor. As the laughter poured relentlessly out of his throat, his stomach started to ache and his lungs started to gasp for more air. Indeed, tears did spring to his eyes, and Oz thought that maybe this was what it meant to laugh until his stomach was going to split open. Rin's indignant pout at Oz's blatant amusement did nothing to stopper his guffaws.

"Aha... ha... heh." Oz choked back the last few giggles. Rin rolled his eyes, "How was I supposed to know? You look nothing like twenty-five!" Oz smiled, "Okay, okay. I just wanted to see your reaction-" He winked, "-and darn, was it worth it!"

A ruby flush spread through the tips of Rin's pointed ears to his cheeks. Oz absorbed the adorable image fully. He had a strong urge to whip out a camera to imprint that face forever in his album but resisted, for he knew Rin would not appreciate the notion. Oz settled for reveling in the cuteness of the moment. "It wasn't that funny," Rin informed him curtly.

"Calm down. I was merely joking." As a show of good faith, Oz slipped a perfectly bloomed rose out from his vest pocket. Tapping the beautiful flower against the back of Rin's hand twice, Oz lifted it and tucked it neatly behind Rin's ear. Silently twisted those dark yet soft locks around the trimmed stem, Oz smiled gently. He finished the job before leaning back to enjoy the view. Rin clearly had an awkward relationship with the rose. He was more used to being rough and sudden, yet he had been presented with a delicate object that he wasn't sure how to approach. It seemed a pain for him to avoid touching the rose but he did. The wine-red rose provided a complimentary contrast to Rin's sapphire hair. It also emphasised the blush still evident in his cheeks. _He looks..._ "Wonderful." Oz praised with a bright smile.

Rin opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he were unsure how to continue the conversation. Finally, when he had decided on what to say, someone cleared his throat distinctly behind the duo. They turned to face no one other than Rin's younger brother, Yukio. The male in the higher position raised an eyebrow at the adornment in his elder brother's hair. Rin noticed the pointed look and hurried to remove the flower, but remembered to be gentle. Oz was more than a little upset to see the rose leave the boy's hair. It had looked adorable there.

"May you be Mr. Oz Vessalius?" Yukio asked.

Oz nodded politely, "Yes. May I know who's asking?"

"Okumura Yukio. I'm a teacher here. I was asked that you be informed the others are resting in the waiting room, and lead you to join them." Yukio replied promptly.

Oz blinked, "Okumura?" He looked curiously between Rin and Yukio. "Yukio's my younger brother." Rin told him, grinning with some amount of pride. "Ah... I see the resemblance." Oz smiled, before leaping off the parapet and brushing himself off. "I think I need to go find the others right now. See you soon, Rin!" Oz engulfed the latter in a tight hug before dashing off. Rin reeled backwards, both in surprise and in pleasure. A warm, comforting emotion erupted in the depths of his chest. Blushing, Rin stared blankly at the leaving back of the other boy.

"Nii-san?" Yukio shook him out of his trance. His raised eyebrows was rising even higher right now which probably signified his suspicion rising equally high. Before Yukio could clarify the string of events, Rin shouted out an excuse, "I'm going to head to class!" and run off.

Nope. Rin was not going to discuss his relationship with Oz with Yukio just yet. He couldn't. Not when he wasn't even sure what that strange emotion was or where the happiness portion was coming from. How could he explain something he didn't even understand himself? Oz's smiling face flashed briefly in his mind. Rin shook his head to dispel the image. He was getting way too obsessed with Oz.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Although it's getting a bit more plot-drived, I cannot give you guys the assurance of constant updates. :( I hope the fluff can sustain you guys for the time being. Here's the first chapter in Oz's point of view which I believe someone requested. What do you guys think of the chapter?

R&R?

[Rin]


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